Esper (W/U/B)

Creature Stats and Color Allocation

Hi Mark. I have a particular fondness for creatures with the stats 1/4 and the ability Flying. These creatures have always been in the Esper colors. That's why the Selesnya-colored "Congregation Gryff" stung my Magic heart. To me, this is a design flaw. Why is this creature partly green?

I don’t think white/blue/black has a lock on ¼ fliers. No color or sets of colors should have a lock on a combination of stats and abilities.

Black Colors Congregation Gryff Creatures Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Flying Green

Card Color Query

What colors would a card that said destroy target permanent or counter target spell be?

White/blue/black or black/green/blue.

Black Blue Colors Destroy Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Simic (G/U) Sultai (B/G/U)

White's Card Draw Mechanics

I gotta say, I am not a fan of the "once per turn" draw in White. It just doesn't have the same mechanical bite that other colors have like Red's impulse draw/rummaging or Black's sacrifice for power. Can we see more of a push in forms of White card draw that thematically fit, like charity (Secret Rendez-Vous), compensation (Discerning Financier), and retribution (Esper Sentinel) with less ETB card draw and "draw a card because you did something" (Wedding Announcement, Welcoming Vampire)?

The flavor is white draws long, that is it sets up the proper condition and then gets rewarded with card draw over time. It’s slow, methodical card draw.

Card Draw Colors Discerning Financier Enter The Battlefield Esper (W/U/B) Esper Sentinel Fight / Bite Flavor Mechanics Once Per Turn Retribution Sacrifice Sentinel Vampire Welcoming Vampire White

Colored Artifacts and Esper’s Identity

Do coloured artifacts being common make a return to Alara, and Esper by extension, more difficult because coloured artifacts were Esper's identity?

Esper is as much about all its creatures being artifact creatures.

Artifacts Creatures Esper (W/U/B)

Suitability of 'Eriette, the Beguiler'

so I drafted "Eriette, the Beguiler" and then discovered that there are 3 auras in the set, 1 red, 1 green (she is esper colored) and the final aura which is blue, disables the target completely which conflicts with her ability's goal. Was this a mistake of having too many things trying to be fit into the set? or was she never designed to be drafted?

Rares and mythic rares are more focused on constructed formats. It’s nice when they can work for limited, but it’s not a requirement.

Auras Blue Constructed Eriette, the Beguiler Esper (W/U/B) Green Limited Mythic Rares Rares Red

Three-Colour Combinations

So far Temur, Bant, Esper, Naya and Grixis have been previewed. Can we expect all 10 three-colour combinations in OTJ ?

No, all ten are not there.

Bant Bant (W/U/G) Esper (W/U/B) Grixis Grixis (U/B/R) Naya Naya (R/G/W) Outlaws of Thunder Junction Temur (R/U/G)

Swamps in Pie

"Dakkon Blackblade is definitely a color pie break, right? Right?!?It’s a green ability on a white/blue/black card. : )"
This made me think of a related question. I know counting lands generally is core green, but is counting swamps still in pie for black? (ex: Nightmare, Mutilate, Cabal Coffers)

Yes, it’s still in pie for black.

Black Cabal Coffers Color Pie Dakkon Blackblade Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Green Humor Lands Mutilate Nightmare Nightmare

Color Pie Breaks

Dakkon Blackblade is definitely a color pie break, right? Right?!?

It’s a green ability on a white/blue/black card. : )

Black Color Pie Dakkon Blackblade Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Green Humor

More Guessing Games

Hi Mark. I love love love LOVE the card design for the new Prisoner's Dilemma. These kinds of effects that put your opponents in miniature guessing games and provoke them to turning on one another are excellent for EDH. Is there a chance we can see more of this kind of effect? Maybe in Esper colours for those of us who love Sphinx / riddle tribal and making our opponents suffer? :D

There very much is a possibility.

Colors Commander Esper (W/U/B) Kindred / Typal Prisoner's Dilemma Provoke Sphinx

Multicolored Mana Symbols

Is there a reason that multicoloured mana symbols aren't used in mana sources? I.e, instead of "Add [B] or [G]", it could be add [B/G]?It could probably save a bunch of card space, especially in 5 colour mana sources, if 5 colour multiple type pops were added, i.e. "Add one mana of any colour" vs "Add [W/U/B/R/G]"
Though, I suspect a 5 colour one might not work in formats like commander, since then it would count as 5 colour identity card

The reason is it implies things that aren’t inherently true. Also, it would cause some color identity issues as you point out.

Color Identity Colors Commander Esper (W/U/B) Golgari (B/G) Grixis (U/B/R) Gruul (R/G) Jund (B/R/G) Mana Suspect

Batman's Color Identity

So batman is not blue? He is the world's greatest detective and often uses intelligence and science. He is red because he is driven by the emotions of grief and he is a viglante. He uses black as a tool and one could argue his very selfish and is only batman to satisfy his own trauma. How is batman white?

Batman is in order white/blue/black.White because his entire reason for becoming Batman was to make a world where what befell him and his parents would never happen to another citizen of Gotham. He’s trying to provide order to stop the rampant spread of criminality in the city. His ultimate goal, like white, is to create peace.

Black Blue Citizen Color Identity Detective Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Red White

Professor X’s Color Identity

"Hi Mark! Have you done the X-Men yet? :) What is Professor X’s color identity?One color: blueTwo colors: white/blueThree colors: white/blue/black" What black aspects does Professor X has?

Professor X has, on numerous occasions, done quite questionable things to keep mutants alive.

Azorius (W/U) Black Blue Color Identity Colors Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Mutant

X-Men Color Identities

Hi Mark! Have you done the X-Men yet? :) What is Professor X's color identity?

One color: blueTwo colors: white/blueThree colors: white/blue/black

Azorius (W/U) Black Blue Color Identity Colors Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B)

Color Pie Outputs

You’ve said how with white ramp & card draw, it’s essentially “the more white the input is, the less white the output has to be”. Taxing Noncreature spells is very white, so the payoff being card draw (like Esper sentinel) is a-okay. Is this the case with other effects too? As in, could a black card make treasures off of a zombie entering the field? Could a blue card gain life when you scry? Could a green card destroy creatures when it deals a bunch of combat damage? Stuff like that

The output still has to be something the color does. My point was that the closer to the core the input is, the less close to the core, the output can be. If you want an output that the color is tertiary in, the input should ideally be primary. The input being primary is not an excuse to be out of color.

Black Blue Card Draw Color Pie Colors Creatures Destroy Esper (W/U/B) Esper Sentinel Green Lifegain Non-creatures Primary Scry Sentinel Spells Tertiary Treasure White Zombie

Misinterpretation Corrected

Re: Threebrid. "If. They look unaesthetic, are hard to read, and get a little too close to generic mana in functionality." I think you misunderstood the question. It was about symbols like {3/W}, not {W/U/B}.

I did misread it. Sorry.

Colorless Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Mana

Mechanic Color Choices

Amass was in RUB, but mechanically, green likes both singular big creatures and cares about +1/+1 counters. Connive was is WUB, but interestingly, red cares about discard/draw, blue does draw, and black does discard, so RUB mechanically would fit in the pie a little closer. Out of curiosity, what let to bending these two abilities as opposed to sticking to the colors that naturally fit them closest?

Streets of New Capenna was an arc set (aka a color and its allies), so we had to fit mechanics into the wedges.

Ally Amass Black Blue Colors Connive Creatures Discard Esper (W/U/B) Green Mechanics Red Streets of New Capenna Three Color

Murders at Karlov Manor

Hi Mark! Just had to say how psyched I am for Murders at Karlov Manor. My favorite Commander deck is a detective-themed Esper build, and the opportunity for some new additions is super exciting. Thanks for this blog!

You’re welcome.

Blogatog / Tumblr Commander Decks Esper (W/U/B) Murders at Karlov Manor

Alara's Return Possibility

If/when return to Alara? It's one of my favorite planes, where my interest really picked up in magic, and I'd love a birthday fact about it! :)

If, but I hope when. It was the only design team to have five distinct mini teams (one per share). Each mini team was made up of three people. I led the Esper mini team, and was on the Bant and Naya mini teams.Happy Birthday!

Bant Bant (W/U/G) Birthday Esper (W/U/B) If/When Naya Naya (R/G/W) Planes

Color Order Explanation

"They are in WUBRG order. Note that doesn’t mean W is always before U" Can you explain how this works? I'm confused.

Let’s start with allied color pairs. The way we do them is we start with the color and the go clockwise around the color wheel. That means they are: White/BlueBlue/BlackBlack/RedRed/GreenGreen/WhiteNote that means green and white are green/white, the order in which they are consecutive rather than the order of WUBRG. For enemy color pairs we get: White/BlackBlue/RedBlack/GreenRed/WhiteGreen/BlueIn this case two color pairs, red and white, and green and blue, are not in WUBRG order, but in the order where they are closest around the circle.This order makes it so each color is first two out of four times, and last two out of four times.Shard/arc three color trios are done the order that they appear together in the circle:White/Blue/BlackBlue/Black/RedBlack/Red/GreenRed/Green/WhiteGreen/White/BlueRed, green and white, and green, white, and blue aren’t in WUBRG order.Wedge three-color trios, are written such that the shared enemy color is in the center, with each color appearing with it as it appears when it’s written as an enemy color :White/Black/GreenBlue/Red/WhiteBlack/Green/BlueRed/White/BlackGreen/Blue/RedOnly white, black, green is in WUBRG order.Four color quartets appear in the order they appear consecutive in the color wheel: White/Blue/Black/RedBlue/Black/Red/GreenBlack/Red/Green/WhiteRed/Green/White/Blue Green/White/Blue/BlackAll but the first two aren’t in WUBRG order.Five color us in WUBRG order:White/Blue/Black/Red/Green

Abzan (W/B/G) Azorius (W/U) Black Blue Boros (R/W) Colors Dimir (U/B) Esper (W/U/B) Four Color Golgari (B/G) Green Grixis (U/B/R) Gruul (R/G) Izzet (U/R) Jeskai (U/R/W) Jund (B/R/G) Mardu (R/W/B) Naya (R/G/W) Orzhov (W/B) Rakdos (B/R) Red Selesnya (G/W) Simic (G/U) Sultai (B/G/U) Three Color Two Color White

Shard/Wedge Set Dynamics

I think the questioner about the weird shard/wedge set meant something like an Esper variant where every card is partly blue: WUB, UW, UB, but no WB. Extremely centered in the center color (middle in a shard, the enemy color in a wedge). I'm not sure how interesting that would be, but that's how I understood the question

Normally, when we do a three-color faction set, we mostly focus on the two color pairs that connect two different factions, ally in arcs/shards and enemy in wedge. This is so you can draft two colors and have two three-color factions still open.What you’re asking for above is how we tend to do arc sets. Most the two-color cards are ally combinations.

Ally Blue Colors Draft Formats Esper (W/U/B) Factions Orzhov (W/B) Three Color Two Color